Nothing sways an Indian buyer’s choice more than a word of reassurance from the people he knows. Even for the purchases like cars, mobile phones and home loans, majority of the consumers in India rely on the references from their friends and relatives while making their decisions. The story is different in developed economies. Take the case of automobiles. In markets like the US, Canada and Japan, more people are influenced by conventional advertising by automobile companies, in developing markets like India, Malaysia and Thailand it’s the neighbor or the colleague who tips the scales one way or the other. “In case of luxury goods, the psyche of Indians has always been different. Buying a car is a family decision, so it is only natural that all the members of the family will talk to all the other users of a similar products, who they know”, General Motors India director P Balendran said. When the whole world is going crazy with Internet and mobile marketing, it is interesting that for Indians it’s still conventional advertising and word of mouth campaigns that sways their choices. Unlike in the West, Indians come from a very closely-knit society where people get influenced by their peers, relatives and local celebrities. People are more than willing to accept a brand if it’s endorsed by their favorite superstar or is recommended by their close associates.

Advertising is perhaps the most commonly used tool of promotion. It is an impersonal form of communication, which is paid for by the marketers (sponsors) to promote some goods or service. According to you, which of the following is the important distinguishing feature of the "Advertising"?

1. Advertising is a free form of communication, where the sponsor provides with free cost of communicating with the prospects.
2. Direct face to face contact between the prospect and the advertiser, thus referred to as "Personal" method of promotion.
3. Advertising is undertaken by some identified individual company, who makes the advertising components.
4. Advertising is a very economical mode of communication if larger number of people are to be reached.

3 and 4

The important distinguishing features of advertising are as follows:

1. Paid Form: Advertising is a paid form of communication. That is, the sponsor has to bear the cost of communicating with the prospects.
2. Impersonality: There is no direct face-to-face contact between the prospect and the advertiser. It is therefore, referred to as impersonal method of promotion. Advertising creates a monologue and not a dialogue.
3. Identified Sponsor: Advertising is undertaken by some identified individual or company, who makes the advertising efforts and also bears the cost of it.
4. Economical: Advertising is a very economical mode of communication if large number of people are to be reached. Because of its wide reach, the overall cost of advertising gets spread over numerous communication links established.